Survival Guide After Accidentally Kissing a Demon - Chapter 91

Chapter 91

Night fell.

On the second floor of the Holy Island Academy library, Beili and the Blind Youth sat down against the wall.

The youth naturally leaned his head on her shoulder. Holding her hand, he curled his lips into a slight smile and closed his eyes, appearing ready to enter the Dream Domain.

Beili closed her eyes as well.

A speck of light appeared in the darkness. That light was like a stone hitting the surface of the water, sending out a ripple that expanded outward.

In the space of a single breath, Beili opened her eyes.

She found herself standing outside the library’s tower. The windowless tower stood tall and imposing.

The stars in the night sky flared to life again, rotating slowly within segmented blocks. The moon also melted into orange-yellow filaments, swirling into the rotating nebula.

Faint footsteps approached from behind. Beili turned her head and saw the thin youth in white emerge from the darkness.

“This Dream Domain is different from last time too,” Beili said to him, her red eyes wide. “Even though the night sky is the same, I remember being able to see the entire island from the windows last time. This time, only the library building remains.”

The other buildings of the Academy and the vast, endless sea seemed to have been deleted. Aside from the rotating starry sky and the towering circular tower, the entire space was filled with nothing but darkness and vague silhouettes within it.

The youth tilted his head, his hollow golden eyes “looking” at her.

“Your use… use of Mana is… a bit unrefined. Actually, this… this is just right,” he said.

What did he mean by that…?

Could it be…

That the last time she opened the Dream Domain so extensively, making the architecture so rich and the details so perfect, she was actually wasting Mana?

“Furthermore, this… this makes it less likely to cause… time distortion.”

So the reason she woke up from the dream space last time only to find a month had passed was because she had made the Dream Domain map too large…

Beili blinked blankly. The youth had already taken her hand and was leading her toward the library.

They pushed open the main doors. The interior layout was identical to reality.

The two of them bypassed row after row of bookshelves and climbed the curved staircase to the library’s second floor.

In reality, the second floor ended at a railing with no further stairs leading up. But now, the railing had vanished. Extending upward was a flight of stairs composed of floating wooden planks.

At the end of the stairs was a wooden door embedded in the ceiling. A sign hung from the upside-down door, dangling quietly. Beili didn’t even need to look to guess that the sign read “Library Third Floor.”

“I see the door. Its position and angle are a bit tricky, and the stairs leading to it don’t have handrails. It’s a bit dangerous and easy to fall off, so take it slow in a moment.”

Beili gave her habitual reminder, only remembering after she spoke that this guy didn’t need a warning at all.

“Okay…” the youth smiled at her.

…

The floating wooden planks beneath their feet were very sturdy.

The two of them climbed to the end of the wooden stairs. Tucking themselves into the narrow corner, they looked up and opened the wooden door to the Third Floor.

After grabbing the doorframe and climbing through, Beili once again arrived in the windowless room carpeted in dark red patterns.

The firewood in the fireplace was still crackling and burning, and the air held the woody scent of charcoal. The decorations hanging on the mottled, old walls were still several animal heads.

Beside the fireplace stood the reclining chair covered in blankets. Just as she had seen last time, the chair was swaying slightly as if someone had just left it, gradually coming to a stop.

On the small round table next to the chair sat a cup of hot tea, a blank page, and a quill.

…

As the saying goes, the first time you’re a stranger, the second time you’re an acquaintance. Upon entering the room, Beili walked over to the reclining chair that had just stopped moving and lay down as naturally and composedly as if she were returning home.

The youth, who had followed her into the room, stood still. He lowered his hollow golden eyes, his expression peaceful and quiet, seemingly sensing the hidden dangers within the room.

The soft blankets on the chair wrapped gently around her. Beili gave a light flick of her finger, summoning several Morpho Butterflies to pick up the paper and quill from the table. She then beckoned to the youth.

“The Book of Truth is just this ordinary-looking scrap of paper. You can use it just by making a few random marks on it with the quill next to it.”

The youth remained standing where he was, unmoving.
“I… I can’t see… I don’t… I don’t know how to write.”

The boy spoke in a small voice, tilting his head slightly as he waited for her reaction.

Beili was momentarily stunned. “The questioner is supposed to hold the quill and write the question themselves.”

Otherwise, she could just sit here and list everyone else’s names.

List everyone else’s names…

Beili blinked her red eyes, seemingly remembering something.

The boy lowered his head, a look of helplessness and embarrassment crossing his face.

“Hold my… my hand… and we’ll write it together.”

A weak voice made a request that was anything but weak.

“…”

Sighing inwardly, Beili said helplessly, “…Fine, come over here.”

Only then did the boy slowly walk over to the lounge chair and lie down beside her quite naturally.

The chair gave a small creak as it began to rock again.

The boy’s cold, thin body snuggled against her, and a faint smile touched the corners of his lips.

He reached out and caught the quill floating in the air. The tip of the nib lightly brushed the paper, leaving a single drop of ink.

The quill and paper were pulled away.

After a flurry of scratching sounds, the Morpho Butterflies once again flew over, carrying the paper and pen back to the two of them.

“What did… did it write?” the boy asked softly, taking the quill at the same time.

Beili glanced at it. Two familiar words were on the page-

[Name]

“Name. You need to write down your name, Ashera.”

She explained, “Once you fill in your name, you can ask your question.”

As she spoke, Beili took hold of the boy’s cold, thin hand-which felt like a brittle branch-and guided him, slowly writing his name in the blank space on the paper.

‘Ashera’

The quill and paper were pulled away once more.

After another brief sound of writing, the Morpho Butterflies returned the paper and pen to them.

A new line had been added to the yellowed parchment-

[Full Name]

…Hm?

Beili stared at the line, stunned for a moment. Her hand, still holding the boy’s, went still.

“What… what’s wrong?” the boy asked softly.

“Ashera, what is your surname? The Book of Truth says it needs you to fill in your full name…”

But come to think of it… did this guy even have a full name?

Beili had no recollection of one at all.

The original story never explained his surname or family history.

The original story was nothing but ups and downs of emotion and one misunderstanding after another.

“I… I thought you… you knew… friend.”

His cold body pressed close against her as they snuggled. There was a hint of a smile in the boy’s weak voice.

“After all, you… you called out my… my name so easily before. I thought that in this… *cough*… in this world, no one… would know it.”

The boy spoke in intermittent breaths.

After all, anyone who came into contact with him only called him a ‘monster.’

…

On the lounge chair, Beili’s red eyes widened in shock at the boy’s words.

It felt as if she had been hit over the head. Only now did she remember-on the carriage ride to the Thorn Game castle, she had called out Ashera’s name.

Because she had read the original book and knew he was called Ashera, she had naturally overlooked this problem.

“I…”

Her eyelashes fluttered and her palms began to sweat as she racked her brain, trying to come up with a perfect excuse to patch this loophole.

Before she could think of one, the boy seemed not to care at all, his lips curling up slightly.

“Ashera Elvis,” he said softly.

“Okay…”

Beili’s hand, poised to write, froze.

No.

From the top of her head to the tips of her toes, her entire being froze.

Ashera Elvis.

He had the same surname as Cyril: Elvis.

Could he be the King of Santos’s illegitimate son?

Beili felt as if her brain had suddenly received a massive piece of information that it couldn’t process, causing it to stall and go into standby mode.

“Are you… very surprised?” the boy asked softly.

“I…” Beili opened her mouth, staring at him blankly as if she didn’t recognize him.

They were very close.

Beili could see the grey-blue veins beneath his pale skin, and his unfocused golden vertical pupils were ‘looking’ at her from a hair’s breadth away.

Cold air followed his breath, flowing evenly against her earlobe and the side of her neck.

Beili lowered her red eyes and swallowed hard, her voice coming out slowly. “I am indeed very surprised… So you are of the Royal Family bloodline, Ashera…”